Resources

Surfly powers unrivaled Co-browsing

With Surfly’s high quality and super fast co-browsing technology you can provide a customer experience that equals that of a face-to-face meeting, without any barriers in the service cycle. Just click a button or share a link to browse the web together with your customers.

Surfly is a turn-key service that is easily added to your web-site. With our fully documented API it is straightforward and easy to integrate and with our (video)chat functionality you can build trusting relationships with your clients.

Co-browsing vs. Screen-sharing

Screen-sharing solutions are pixel-based, which means that the controller constantly takes snapshots of the screen and then sends these to the other side in compressed form. The drawback of this approach is that screen updates are slow and of low quality. Surfly’s co-browsing, on the other hand, lets you surf the internet together, and not look at an image of a website on someone else’s computer.

Surfly vs. Other Co-browsing

Surfly distinguishes itself by overcoming cross-domain policies and having all elements on the site (including iframes) function correctly within the co-browsing session. This means that audio and video are synced as well. In addition, all visual updates can be efficiently captured. Our proxy approach also allows us to provide both the user and the agent with a very smooth co-browsing experience that is much faster than other solutions.

Unlike many co-browsing solutions, Surfly works on any web page even those that you don’t control. Whether your clients connect through WhatsApp, Facebook, Phone or just webchat you will be able to start co-browsing sessions directly from any web application. To learn more about the difference between Surfly and other co-browsing solutions, have a look at the table below:

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Resources Behind Authentication

Canvas

SVG

HTML5 Audio

WebGL

HTML5 Video

Native Selects

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

non-embedded PDF

no-embedded Images / Documents

Synchronized Downloading of content

Captcha

Control Switching

onChange() form events from follower

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

Full Content-Editable Synchronisation

Embedded / Javascript based co-browsing

Description

With a purely Javascript based approach you'll need to embed the code on each and every page. This is doable for small companies but for large Enterprises where the website is divided in multiple compartments or even outsourced and no-longer maintained not really realistic.

Embedded content (Google Maps, Disqus, or social buttons) are implemented using iFrame. With the Javascript based approach Iframes and framesets are not supported.

With Surfly you can navigate to different web pages, without ending the session. This is not guaranteed with a purely javascript approach.

A lot of websites use dynamic menu's that interact when you move your mouse over them. With a purely embedded solution these will simply never work.

These functions generally block all Javascript behavior which makes it difficult to work within a co-browsing scenario. This is not a problem for Surfly.

Maybe you require your users to login and are the resources behind authentication. We can enable secure access to these resources without sharing authentication secrets.

Canvas can be used to have short animations or ever simple visual drawing tool on your website. This only works within Surfly.

Scalable Vector Graphics can be synchronized, this includes possible SVG animations.

Synchronized audio only works within Surfly.

WebGL is normally used with 3D designers and planners and is not a problem for Surfly to handle.

Do you want to have synchronized play of Video elements? This is only possible with Surfly.

With the purely embedded approach, dropdowns (expandable select boxes) that are not styled with any CSS will not be shown correctly on the follower side. This is not a problem with Surfly.

These functions generally block all Javascript behavior which makes it difficult to work within a co-browsing scenario. This is not a problem for Surfly.

A direct link to a PDF file can be opened and viewed within a Surfly co-browsing session.

The above also works for images, word documents, excel sheets powerpoint files. We automatically convert the document to PDF that can be viewed by all participants.

Within a Surfly session we can allow all participants to securely download external content, even those items that require authentication to be accessed.

Captcha's or recaptcha's are fully synchronized among all participants of a session.

We allow full control switching where participants can do more than just point and draw.

We properly support onChange() events activated from the follower side. This is not possible with a purely embedded approach.

When your code changes it can effect all code running after it. This could break the synchronization - Surfly uses a more robust approach to defend against this.

Perfect synchronization of content editable forms among all participants.

Comparison

No website changes required

No website changes required

iFrames or Framesets

iFrames or Framesets

3rd party content

3rd party content

CSS Pseudo Classes (interactive menu's)

CSS Pseudo Classes (interactive menu's)

Resources Behind Authentication

Resources Behind Authentication

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Canvas

Canvas

SVG

SVG

HTML5 Audio

HTML5 Audio

WebGL

WebGL

HTML5 Video

HTML5 Video

Native Selects

Native Selects

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

non-embedded PDF

non-embedded PDF

no-embedded Images / Documents

no-embedded Images / Documents

Synchronized Downloading of content

Synchronized Downloading of content

Captcha

Captcha

Control Switching

Control Switching

onChange() form events from follower

onChange() form events from follower

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

Full Content-Editable Synchronisation

Full Content-Editable Synchronisation

Embedded / Javascript based co-browsing

No website changes required

iFrames or Framesets

3rd party content

CSS Pseudo Classes (interactive menu's)

Resources Behind Authentication

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Canvas

SVG

HTML5 Audio

WebGL

HTML5 Video

Native Selects

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

non-embedded PDF

no-embedded Images / Documents

Synchronized Downloading of content

Captcha

Control Switching

onChange() form events from follower

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

Full Content-Editable Synchronisation

No website changes required

iFrames or Framesets

3rd party content

CSS Pseudo Classes (interactive menu's)

Resources Behind Authentication

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Canvas

SVG

HTML5 Audio

WebGL

HTML5 Video

Native Selects

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

non-embedded PDF

no-embedded Images / Documents

Synchronized Downloading of content

Captcha

Control Switching

onChange() form events from follower

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

Full Content-Editable Synchronisation

Description

No website changes required

With a purely Javascript based approach you'll need to embed the code on each and every page. This is doable for small companies but for large Enterprises where the website is divided in multiple compartments or even outsourced and no-longer maintained not really realistic.

iFrames or Framesets

Maybe your site has embedded content. For example a Google Maps, a Disqus conversation board or even a like button. All these are implemented using an iFrame and these will not work with

3rd party content

What should happen if you actually click on a link within a co-browse session? You ofcourse want to maintain the session, but with a purely embedded solution this is not guaranteed - if the link goes to a page which has no Javascript tag on it you'll basically lose the session and thus your customer.

CSS Pseudo Classes (interactive menu's)

A lot of websites use dynamic menu's that interact when you move your mouse over them. With a purely embedded solution these will simply never work.

Resources Behind Authentication

Maybe you require your users to login and are the resources behind authentication. We can enable secure access to these resources without sharing authentication secrets.

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Those buttons that allow you to click to go to top or click to go the bottom simply don't work well with a purely embedded solution. This is a common UI pattern: http://ui-patterns.com/patterns/ContinuousScrolling

Canvas

Canvas can be used to have short animations or ever simple visual drawing tool on your website. This only works within Surfly.

SVG

Scalable Vector Graphics can be synchronized, this includes possible SVG animations.

HTML5 Audio

Synchronized audio only works within Surfly.

WebGL

WebGL is normally used with 3D designers and planners and is not a problem for Surfly to handle.

HTML5 Video

Do you want to have synchronized play of Video elements? This is only possible with Surfly.

Native Selects

Dropdowns (expandable select boxes) that are not styled with any CSS will not be shown correctly on the follower side. This makes it difficult for an agent to

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

These functions generally block all Javascript behavior which makes it difficult to work with in a co-browsing scenario. However, we automatically rewire these functions into something that will continue to work within a session.

non-embedded PDF

A direct link to a PDF file can be opened and viewed within a Surfly co-browsing session.

no-embedded Images / Documents

The above also works for images, word documents, excell sheets powerpoint files. We automatically convert the document to PDF that can be viewed by all participants.

Synchronized Downloading of content

Within a Surfly session we can allow all participants to securely download external content, even those items that require authentication to be accessed.

Captcha

Captcha's or recaptcha's are fully synchronized among all participants of a session.

Control Switching

We allow full control switching where participants can do more than just point and draw. For example, with Surfly it is possible to interact with a Carrousel as any participant. See: http://ui-patterns.com/patterns/Carousel

onChange() form events from follower

For example, we properly support onChange() events activated from the follower side. Something that is not possible with a purely embedded approach.

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

When your code changes for example window.addEventListen - er it can effect all code running after it. These kind of changes are relatively commond and are used by certain Javascript libraries. This could break the synchronisation - but Surfly uses a more robust approach to defend against this.

Full Content-Editable Synchronisation

Working with a contentEditable form and trying to synchronize this among participants - this is not a problem for Surfly.

Comparison

No website changes required

iFrames or Framesets

3rd party content

CSS Pseudo Classes (interactive menu's)

Resources Behind Authentication

Javascript Navigation and continuos scrolling.

Canvas

SVG

HTML5 Audio

WebGL

HTML5 Video

Native Selects

Javascript Alert() Confirm() Prompt()

non-embedded PDF

no-embedded Images / Documents

Synchronized Downloading of content

Captcha

Control Switching

onChange() form events from follower

Monkey patching of build-in Javascript functionality

Full Content-Editable Synchroni-sation

Embedded / Javascript based co-browsing

Description

With a purely Javascript based approach you'll need to embed the code on each and every page. This is doable for small companies but for large Enterprises where the website is divided in multiple compartments or even outsourced and no-longer maintained not really realistic.

Maybe your site has embedded content. For example a Google Maps, a Disqus conversation board or even a like button. All these are implemented using an iFrame and these will not work with

What should happen if you actually click on a link within a co-browse session? You ofcourse want to maintain the session, but with a purely embedded solution this is not guaranteed - if the link goes to a page which has no Javascript tag on it you'll basically lose the session and thus your customer.

A lot of websites use dynamic menu's that interact when you move your mouse over them. With a purely embedded solution these will simply never work.

Maybe you require your users to login and are the resources behind authentication. We can enable secure access to these resources without sharing authentication secrets.

Those buttons that allow you to click to go to top or click to go the bottom simply don't work well with a purely embedded solution. This is a common UI pattern: http://ui-patterns.com/patterns/ContinuousScrolling

Canvas can be used to have short animations or ever simple visual drawing tool on your website. This only works within Surfly.

Scalable Vector Graphics can be synchronized, this includes possible SVG animations.

Synchronized audio only works within Surfly.

WebGL is normally used with 3D designers and planners and is not a problem for Surfly to handle.

Do you want to have synchronized play of Video elements? This is only possible with Surfly.

With the purely embedded approach, dropdowns (expandable select boxes) that are not styled with any CSS will not be shown correctly on the follower side. This is not a problem with Surfly.

These functions generally block all Javascript behavior which makes it difficult to work with in a co-browsing scenario. However, we automatically rewire these functions into something that will continue to work within a session.

A direct link to a PDF file can be opened and viewed within a Surfly co-browsing session.

The above also works for images, word documents, excel sheets powerpoint files. We automatically convert the document to PDF that can be viewed by all participants.

Within a Surfly session we can allow all participants to securely download external content, even those items that require authentication to be accessed.

Within a Surfly session we can allow all participants to securely download external content, even those items that require authentication to be accessed.

We allow full control switching where participants can do more than just point and draw. For example, with Surfly it is possible to interact with a Carrousel as any participant. See: http://ui-patterns.com/patterns /Carousel

For example, we properly support onChange() events activated from the follower side. Something that is not possible with a purely embedded approach.

When your code changes it can effect all code running after it. This could break the synchronization - Surfly uses a more robust approach to defend against this.

Perfect synchronization of content editable forms among all participants